Lawsuit challenges Don Shooter’s residency

This Feb. 14, 2017, file photo shows Arizona state Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, on the House floor at the Capitol in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Bob Christie,File)

A Republican contender in Legislative District 13 is challenging former Yuma Rep. Don Shooter’s residency in his bid for a comeback to the state Senate.

In a complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court today, attorney Timothy La Sota alleged that Shooter does not qualify for the primary ballot because he doesn’t live in Legislative District 13.

Shooter is seeking a political comeback in LD13, which he represented since 2011, first in the Senate and then in the House of Representatives before his expulsion from the House in February. Shooter was expelled after an investigation found he had sexually harassed several women, including another lawmaker, and created a hostile work environment.

La Sota filed the suit on behalf of Brent Backus, who is facing off against Shooter for the Republican nomination to the Senate seat. He seeks to prevent Shooter’s name from being printed on the Aug. 28 primary ballot.

Shooter declined to comment on the challenge, but said in a text message: “Let’s dance.” He also declined to answer questions about his residency.

In the lawsuit, La Sota alleged that Shooter lives in a 2,660-square-foot home on North 22nd Street in Phoenix’s Biltmore area, where Shooter and his wife, Susan, registered to vote on April 30, and not in a rental apartment on South Palo Verde Lane in Yuma.

The Phoenix home, La Sota wrote, is owned by Shooter and the Shooter Family Trust, and is listed as a primary residence.

He said Shooter does not own any property in Yuma, where the former politician alleges he has lived for 38 years.

The Arizona Constitution requires that candidates live in the county that they are running in for at least one year prior to the election, and state statutes mandates candidates for public office to reside in the county, district or precinct that they wish to represent.